Agenda and minutes

The Licensing Panel considered the appointment of a Chairman for the meeting.

Resolved:

That Councillor G Coleman be appointed Chairman for the meeting.

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:-

(1) the type of interest concerned

(2) the nature of the interest concerned; and

(3) whether they have or have not sat on a Planning Committee which has previously considered a planning application in respect of a licensed premises which is also subject to consideration for a premises licence as part of the agenda for this meeting.

If any Member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

(Members are asked to also pay particular attention to the guidance sheet on interests supplied with the agenda).

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

The Chairman explained the procedure for the meeting and that an equal time limit of twenty minutes each would be allocated to speak for all parties.

a. APPLICATION AND REPRESENTATIONS SUBMITTED. To consider the attached report

b. DETERMINATION OF THE APPLICATION FOR THE REVIEW OF A PREMISES LICENCE- Dickson Pizza, Dickson Road

c. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DECISION FOR THE APPLICATION FOR THE REVIEW OF A PREMISES LICENCE- Dickson Pizza, Dickson Road

The Licensing Panel considered an application by the Licensing Service to review the licence issued in respect of Dickson Pizza, 281 Dickson Road.

The licence holder, Mr Asgari was not in attendance and made no representations to the Panel.

The Panel agreed to hear the review in the absence of the applicant.

PC Emma Pritchard from Lancashire Constabulary presented the case against the premises at 281 Dickson Road. It was reported that there had been a number of breaches of the licence conditions, namely through non-compliance with CCTV requirements and specifications and the installation of a boxing machine that was expressly prohibited. In addition, concerns about possible Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) occurring in and around the premises were noted.

The Licensing Panel also considered the objections of the Licensing Service and from the Child Protection Licensing Officer as no representative was in attendance. In addition, the Panel reviewed various incident reports contained within the agenda though it was acknowledged that possibly given the out of town location, there had not been many complaints received or Police callouts to the premises.

The Panel discussed the case and expressed concerns about the lack of submitted CCTV evidence to refute claims regarding possible Child Sexual Exploitation on or around the premises locale. Members also noted that the staff on duty during visits by the Police lacked knowledge in relation to operation of the premises CCTV system. A stern view was taken of the premises operating practices and the Panel agreed with the Licensing Service recommendation of taking some form of severe punitive action.

PC Pritchard summarised the case against 281 Dickson Road and Members agreed that to allow the licence holder to continue to operate would undermine some key Licensing Objectives and that imposing appropriate conditions or a period of suspension would be ineffective in preventing the problems identified.

Resolved:

To revoke the Premises Licence at Dickson Pizza, 281 Dickson Road.